RCMP VETERANS’ ASSOCIATION VANCOUVER DIVISION WEBSITE: http://www.rcmpveteransvancouver.com/ JUNE 2020 GENERAL MEETINGS: In normal times, we would not hold Division General Meetings in the months of July, August and September, so you could say that we are back to normal for the next three months. We are still hopeful that under the phased approach to reopening, being taken by Provincial Health Authorities, we will be able to resume our General Meetings in some form in October. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: These past few months have been a big challenge to all of us. Our whole way of life has basically changed. We now have to take huge measures to protect ourselves from a virus that could take our lives. I know when I make my weekly trip to the grocery store that I will see seniors not practicing social distancing. It concerns me when people don’t listen to the experts in doing something that is so simple. To this end I hope all of our members are taking these precautions and as our Chief Medical Officer says, “Be Safe, be careful and be kind”. To protect our members, the association has suspended our regular lunch meetings until such time as they can be done in safety. We will review this decision again in September and adhere to the advice of our Chief Medical Officer Bonnie Henry. The world itself has been turned upside down with the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. I would not have thought for a minute that an incident in the US could so profoundly affect our country. The. Prime Minister has branded the RCMP as an organization with systemic racism. I don’t know where this came from. It seemed he was using this for some political gain, but I am not sure how. The Commissioner, who we must remember is at a Deputy Minister level within the Government, first came out expressing support of the Force and its members only to change that the very next day to support what the Prime Minister said. This may have been her downfall. Time will tell. I know that the members on the street are having to deal with all this. It is not easy for them. The minority of citizens, who criticize the police, are quoted by all media sources. The silent majority are being bombarded by this on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the pro police side the silent majority, are not heard from in an equal or balanced way. So, when you are out and about please make sure that if you see a member on the street doing their job to the very best of their ability that you thank them. It goes a long way to help balance the negativity that they are now facing. I know that John Sherstone has been in touch with a number of our members who have needed the Associations assistance in these trying times. If you need help in any way then please get in touch with John, or any member of the Board, so that we can help. Please stay safe. Bob Underhill, President RCMP Veterans’ Association, Vancouver Division NATIONAL PRESIDENT: Sandy Glenn was recently elected as the new National President of the RCMP Veterans’ Association. Sandy is a member of the Nova Scotia Division. Attached is his inaugural letter to the members of the association. For information on the new Board of Directors, please use the following link: http://www.rcmpveteransvancouver.com/welcome-a-board/ Greetings: This message is going out to our full membership. By now most of you have learned I have had the honour of being elected as President of the RCMP Veterans Association and indeed, it is an honour. I want to reach out to all of you with this message and I promise there will be more to come. My history with the Association includes a term of Secretary, 1st. Vice President, President and Immediate Past President of the Nova Scotia Division, where we have in excess of 800 members. I must confess I had little knowledge of the National office structure until about two weeks ago but in the very short time I’ve been involved I learned there are many positive actions being undertaken on behalf of the overall Association. It is my intention to apprise our respective Division Presidents of the efforts we are taking on your behalf. I also intend to introduce important topics that impact all of us in hopes of finding and implementing solutions to ensure the Association is there to serve you. My experience as President of an 800+ Division clearly showed the importance of good governance and especially transparency and responsiveness. I intend to continue using those sound principles. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 situation has caused this year’s National AGM to be postponed. This is especially disappointing for our Regina Division who no doubt put endless hours of hard work organizing the event that would have seen the highest attendance in many years. We are working with the appropriate government department with respect to the AGM postponement since we do fall within the legal parameters of the Canada Not for Profit Corporations Act. You will be apprised of further developments as they occur, either directly or through your respective Presidents. I had hoped I would have had the opportunity to meet many of you in person and to listen to your concerns and suggestions face to face. Instead, this will have to be done using available technology, an unfortunate sign of the times. In the interim, I assure you I, along with all our Board of Directors will be working hard on your behalf. I also look forward to meeting with every Division President either by Zoom, Google Meet, or some other electronic means in the near future. Because of the relatively large number of Presidents, I am guessing I will have to approach this in a Geographical Region approach. On a final note, the accumulation of so many high stress events and situations has no doubt caused a great deal of anxiety with all of us. Like you, I feel stress every time I turn on the TV news only to hear about complaints and ridicules remarks and suggestions relating to claims of police brutality. I’m reminded of the criticism and hostility many of our older Veterans faced during the late sixties and early seventies. One very good suggestion coming out from the current Nova Scotia Division President is to simply press the “Mute” button on your remote. I now do that, and it works. We know the truth about our own actions and those we worked with so the noise coming from an extremely bias press does not have to be listened to. A thought came to mind and I have seen this many times, especially as of late. The excellent work done by Divisions to help their local communities proudly show the good things the Association can do and this reflects positively on the RCMP. The NS Region of the Annapolis Valley Associate members were part of a group that produced many thousands of Covid-19 protective face masks recently. That same Region has produced many hundreds of receiving blankets, fidget vests for those suffering from Alzheimer’s, bibs for seniors and numerous other helpful items resulting in positive recognition of the RCMP and the Veterans Associations. Another great example is the highly successful Food Bank challenge that originated with John Keddy of Golden Horseshoe Division and quickly caught fire across our Association, and the wonderful efforts to assist women’s shelters within a number of Divisions’ areas. What a great way to shine a positive light on the RCMP. I’m sure everyone feels good when they hear about these wonderful contributions and they certainly give our morale a needed boost. With this in mind, please share your positive messages with me and through the talents of our Director of Communications, James Forrest, the news will be spread all across the Association. We need this. Until then, best wishes to all and stay safe and well. Sincerely A.P. (Sandy) Glenn, President RCMP Veterans’ Association Veterans Helping Veterans and their Families A RESPONSE TO ACCUSATIONS OF SYSTEMIC RACISM IN THE FORCE: The Vancouver Division has received numerous messages since the Prime Minister made his announcement the there was “systemic racism” in the Force. Not surprisingly, the theme of these messages from serving and retired members of the Force and others in the law enforcement community was their disappointment and sense of betrayal by our Government as well as the Commissioner and Senior Executive Committee of the Force. We can only hope that the serving members receive the support of Canadians as they continue to provide excellent service through these troubled times. Below is the statement released by RCMPVA National President, Sandy Glenn on June 13, 2020. A sampling of other messages and links are appended to this newsletter. The RCMP Veterans’ Association is extremely disappointed in the failure to support the Members of our National Police Force, The Royal Canadian Mounted Police. To make sweeping generalization statements about any group of people is always unfair and in the case of a senior executive member, singularly inappropriate and inaccurate. Thoughtless statements from our political leaders put frontline Members of the RCMP at risk. It is the job of that senior executive to support and, if necessary, guide the nation’s federal agencies of which the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is an integral one. It is not the task of that senior executive to denigrate all the members of a particular organization numbering in excess of 30,000 individuals.